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Topic: Speaker for bass and steel double duty w/old Ampeg Flip-top |
Matthew Dawson
From:
Portland Oregon, USA
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Posted 20 Jul 2009 8:41 pm |
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Hello,
I have the head section of an old Ampeg fliptop and a nice homemade 1x15 cab. Right now the cabinet has a weird 16 ohm speaker in it. I would like to find a good 8 ohm 15" and use the amp for both quiet steel gigs and bass. Any suggestions? Anyone played steel through and old Portaflex?
Thanks,
Matt |
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Ivan Funk
From:
Hamburg Pennsylvania, USA
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Posted 21 Jul 2009 12:34 pm
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I'd put an EVM15L in it.
It's a very efficient speaker and would get the most out of the Ampeg. It would sound good for both bass and pedal steel.
I don't think they're made anymore but you can find them used or re-coned for somewhere around $150.00 - $250.00. |
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Papa Joe Pollick
From:
Swanton, Ohio
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Posted 21 Jul 2009 12:58 pm
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| Aint never used an Ampeg,but My Twin has a Black Widow Bass speaker in it..I've been comlimented by other steelers on how good it sounds..Wouldn't dream of changin' it.. |
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Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 21 Jul 2009 1:00 pm Re: Speaker for bass and steel double duty w/old Ampeg Flip-
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| Matthew Dawson wrote: |
...... Anyone played steel through and old Portaflex? ......
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Yes--only for a few hours at a session but it sounded wonderful. I don't know what speaker was in it. Not a lot of tone shaping capability but the color it did have was very satisfying. If I were to use one regularly with steel I'd carry some outboard gear such as an eq (and reverb and/or delay). |
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David Mason
From:
Cambridge, MD, USA
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Posted 22 Jul 2009 5:07 am
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I use a SWR bass head and Peavey BW 112 speakers for everything. I use a modeler in the effects loop, just for reverb, chorus and a bit of EQ if needed - the SWR has a parametric EQ that has a good handle on the midrange, which is important to steel tone. The biggest issue is cone travel - most bass-only rigs use closed cabinets to limit the "excursion" of the speaker, so when you say "quiet" I hope you mean it. You could try to make a cover for the back of your cabinet's hole, you could keep the volume down, or get a closed cabinet to start with. The amp head should be fine - if it sounds good it is good. I'm real happy with the Peavey Black Widows, but I am going to pick up an Eminence Beta 12A for a similar application. Look at the frequency response on the Beta 15A:
http://www.usspeaker.com/homepage.htm |
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Peter Freiberger
From:
California, USA
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Posted 22 Jul 2009 7:24 am
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At low volumes you can get away with an open back cabinet for bass. Carol Kaye and Joe Osborne used to record with miked Fender Concert amps. But don't get carried away.
BTW, I'm restoring my old B15N flip top. If you're only using the amp and not the cabinet I'm looking for the parts to re-attach the chassis to the top. I removed the amp from the top many years ago to use the cabinet with a Dual Showman head and JBL D140. Sounded great, but the parts are long gone. |
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Dave Mudgett
From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
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Posted 22 Jul 2009 8:46 am
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I have indeed used Ampegs, plus some other bass amps, for pedal steel and guitar. I use a bit of external EQ with an old-school bass amp with limited tone controls like a flip top, and generally a bit of reverb and/or delay with any of them. The point is that they were designed for fairly low distortion and flat frequency response.
Flip tops are very cool amps, but not very loud in typical bass-amp or pedal-steel-amp terms. To me, they sound good for jazz guitar, or for lower-volume bass or pedal steel use. Wish I hadn't traded mine away, but you know how it is.
+1 on the EVM-15L speaker, if you can find one in good shape. I usually use my bass amps with an external Thiele cab with an EVM-12L. But a Black Widow - probably a 1501 or perhaps a 1502 - would probably sound very good also. The 1501 has a great bite to it, the others I find a bit smoother sounding - all good to my ears, depending on what I'm looking for. |
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Matthew Dawson
From:
Portland Oregon, USA
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Posted 23 Jul 2009 10:10 am
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Thanks everyone for the replies.
Peter, I wish I had some parts to sent you but when I got the head it was actually detached and has a homemade case/platform.
The cabinet is also homemade out of a nice looking birch plywood. It is closed in the back and has a small port in the front. The has a lot of poly-something muffling material. Think I ought to take this out?
I think I'll probably go with a BW. Plentiful, inexpensive, and good sounding make for a nice combination.
-Matt |
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chas smith R.I.P.
From:
Encino, CA, USA
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Posted 23 Jul 2009 10:13 am
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| Altec 418B |
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Jim Sliff
From:
Lawndale California, USA
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Posted 24 Jul 2009 5:59 am
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I had an old Portaflex that had burned up once, melting the plastic logo so it sort of bent at a 30-degree angle with a twist. It looked oddly cool so I left it alone (happened before I got it!)
If the "weird speaker" looks like, this, I would not change it even if it's 16-ohms unless there's something wrong with it. I've seen a half-dozen with 16-ohm Gauss speakers. No idea why they were in there, but I couldn't find ANYTHING that sounded better with that amp) didn't help reduce the weight though!)
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No chops, but great tone
1930's/40's Rickenbacher/Rickenbacker 6&8 string lap steels
1921 Weissenborn Style 2; Hilo&Schireson hollownecks
Appalachian, Regal & Dobro squarenecks
1959 Fender 400 9+2 B6;1960's Fender 800 3+3+2; 1948 Fender Dual-8 Professional |
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